NCR board member receives humanitarian award for peacemaking efforts

Rynne, an NCR board member, established the Center for Peacemaking at Marquette University. According to a Jan. 15 press release from the foundation, the center's goal is to "improve the quality of life and reduce crime in Milwaukee's inner city, teach conflict resolution in local schools, encourage research efforts by faculty and students and develop strategies for peacemaking."

"Dr. Rynne's dedication to peace exemplifies the power of one person to do good in our troubled world and inspire others," Diane Foley, president of the legacy foundation, said in the press release.

Rynne's award is one of the three 2019 James W. Foley Freedom Awards the foundation will give during its annual dinner April 2 at the National Press Club in Washington.

Brett McGurk, an American diplomat, will receive the 2019 Hostage Freedom Award after he helped negotiate the release of several American captives in Iran.

McGurk has worked in public service during the George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump administrations and served as Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition Against ISIS and lead negotiator with Iran during a negotiation period from late 2014 to early 2016 that led to the release of three captives.

One of those captives, journalist Jason Rezaian, will receive the foundation's 2019 World Press Freedom Award. The press release says he was "unjustly detained" while working as the Tehran bureau chief for The Washington Post and is being honored for his "courageous work as a journalist in Iran" and for his continued advocacy for hostages still detained in Iran and worldwide.

"It is our honor to recognize the moral courage and individual contributions of Brett McGurk, Jason Rezaian and Dr. Terrence Rynne in prioritizing the importance of every American unjustly detained abroad and press freedom in the U.S. and around the world," said Foley.

The keynote speaker at the dinner will be Christiane Amanpour, an activist for press freedom and safety who hosts "Amanpour and Company" on PBS and is the chief international anchor of "Amanpour," a global affairs program on CNN.

According to its website, the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation's mission is to "advocate for and advance the safe return of Americans detained unjustly abroad." The foundation also works to raise awareness of human rights issues and the importance of journalism and freedom of the press.

It is named for an American conflict journalist who was kidnapped in northern Syria in 2012 and murdered Aug. 2014. His family launched the foundation later that year.

[Maria Benevento is an NCR Bertelsen intern. Her email address is mbenevento@ncronline.org.]